Best Friends Together
by WalrusOfDestiny
Summary: A oneshot about Weiss and Ruby's reunion. Arguments are had, hugs are shared, tears are shed, and Qrow sasses some people.


A man sat at his desk. Paperwork strewn haphazardly across it, a computer screen, displaying a desktop with the standard Haven Academy logo, everything about it suggested him to be an ordinary white-collar secretary. Everything except for the girl that was standing at the other side, impatiently tapping her foot.

The man gave her a once over. Blue dress, high heels, white hair, looked posh, everything checked out, but…

"Lady, if you think I'm going to believe you're a Schnee just because you say so..."

Weiss Schnee, for what felt like the billionth time, gestured to her ID. The man stared down at it.

"Right, see, this looks real, but you have to understand, we're a little suspicious of random people entering Haven Academy at the moment. Documents can be forged. Look, if you can do something to prove you're Weiss Schnee, I'll apologize and we can put this behind us."

"And what would that entail?" she asked.

"You're here with family aren'tcha? Get Jacques Schnee up here to vouch for you. Everyone knows that guy's face."

"As I said, I'm here alone because my father's very busy," Weiss repeated. Not technically a lie.

"And as I said, just an ID claiming that you're Weiss Schnee isn't good enough. You need to prove that you aren't an identity thief," the man responded dully. This lady really wasn't getting it.

Weiss stamped her foot. "You aren't getting it," she said. "I am Weiss Schnee. Look, some of your students know me. Call Neptune Vasilias or Sun Wukong down here. They can vouch for me."

The man eyed her. He tapped a few keys on his keyboard and looked it up. "Says here Team SSSN is off-campus on a mission right now. Well, three of them are anyway. Sun Wukong is on leave of absence. The rest will be back in… three weeks."

"You cannot be serious."

"Ma'am, I don't get paid enough to joke around," he responded. "Look, I'm sure you are Weiss Schnee, and I get this must be frustrating, but you gotta understand we just can't go around letting anyone into our school."

Weiss sighed, trying to control her frustration. "Fine," she decided. "I understand. I shall come back in three weeks then."

He gave her a look. "Your dad can't be busy for three full weeks."

"He is a _very_ busy man," Weiss grumbled. Again, not a lie.

She stormed out of the lobby of Haven Academy. She had been in Mistral for exactly five hours. Her plan had been to contact Winter and stay with her. Winter, however, given the voice mail response she had gotten from her usual Scroll, was operating solely on a secure line that she couldn't access. Her next plan was to stay at Haven Academy. That hadn't gone well either. Why the hell was security so tight all of a sudden? Why couldn't anyone just have a little bit of trust?

She sighed as she walked down the street. Trust. That was the issue. She knew that no one had any trust to give her, and she couldn't afford to be handing it out either. She squeezed her eyes shut. There it was again, the pain. Whitley, her father, her mother, none of them were on her side. She had made the mistake of trusting them. Well, more like she had learned how far they were willing to fall. She had no one.

Well, that wasn't quite true, she supposed. She had Ruby and Yang, and maybe even Blake, assuming she could get over that ridiculous "I don't want anyone to get hurt over me" attitude of hers. Honestly, she was so much trouble sometimes. Well, she had been trouble. Not anymore. Team RWBY was split up now. Ruby and Yang were stuck on Patch, and, Yang hadn't been in very good mental or physical condition when she left. Blake was who-knows-where. They were all gone. Her best friends, her family.

She stopped walking, suddenly it was hard to breath. Oh, not this again. She was fine. She didn't need… she could survive without them. She kept her eyes shut. She could live while being desperately alone. Sure, she didn't have Winter, or Klein, or her team, or anyone, but she would force her way through it. She had no other option. She would survive and be strong. She was sure they were all doing the same.

"Come on, we have to go."

"But I want to see what Mistral pancakes taste like! It's not like you guys need me for the meeting or anything."

"We went on this journey together, and we're going to finish it all together. We'll get pancakes on our way back, promise."

"Fiiiine."

Weiss heard people's voices coming from around the corner of the street. She could swear that those voices were… No, she was going crazy. Them? In Haven? She shook her head. She was clearly having a worse episode than she imagined. She had to calm down.

She forced herself to take a deep breath. Another deep breath. She heard nothing but her heels clicking against the ground, nothing but breaths she took, nothing… nothing but relaxation, nothing but… Collision. Weiss stumbled back, eyes still closed. She hadn't been expecting a person in front of her. Who would be so clumsy as to run into another person like that?

"Oh, geez, I'm really sorry, I wasn't looking when I turned the… corner..."

Weiss froze. Nope, she couldn't do it. She couldn't open her eyes. Because right now, she was just hearing a girl's voice, a girl's voice that her brain, in its stress, was making to sound exactly like Ruby Rose. When she opened her eyes, and saw someone who wasn't Ruby, she would be crushed. She wouldn't do it. She wouldn't fall for it.

"Weiss? Is that you?"

Unbidden, her eyes flew open, consequences be damned. What greeted her were two silver eyes and a round-ish face, wearing an expression that looked as shocked as she felt. Weiss sat there, in stunned silence, just looking. She couldn't believe it. Despite the fact that she had given up hope of this happening, despite the fact that she was hundreds of miles from where she should be, Ruby Rose was standing right in front of her.

Ruby bowed her head slightly. "I'm really sorry for staring, miss! It's just that you look just like a friend of mine! I haven't seen her in a-"

Weiss stared at her for a moment. Then she processed what Ruby just said. The shock of it all overloaded her a bit, and she let herself get carried away. She angrily slammed her fist into Ruby's head. "It _is_ me, you dolt!" she snapped. "How _dare_ you!"

"OHMYGOSH IT IS YOU! WEISS!" Ruby shrieked, launching into her for a hug. She picked her up and started spinning around. "IT'S YOU!"

"Yes it is me, put me down please?" Weiss begged. When had Ruby gotten this strong?

Ruby set her down and looked over to the trio Weiss recognized as the rest of Team JNPR. It had been them she heard. "Guys, look, it's Weiss!" Ruby beamed.

"So we heard," Jaune joked, grinning. Nora was waving frantically.

Weiss looked at her former teammate. She had grown, even more than Weiss herself had. That was to be expected, given her younger age, but still. Wait a minute…

"Ruby, are you crying?"

"Dummy!" Ruby replied, laughing and wiping her eyes at the same time. "You're crying too!"

"What?!" Weiss demanded, reaching for her eyes. "I am not-" Oh, she was. What the hell, eyes?

Her eye-wiping was interrupted by another abrupt hug. "I missed you," Ruby muttered into her shoulder.

Weiss stopped for a moment, overwhelmed by her emotions. When was the last time anyone had said that to her? Her emotions compelled her to return the hug. "I missed you too- all of you, too."

"Wow," Jaune mocked. "Nice save."

Weiss shot him a glare from Ruby's shoulder. Since when did _he_ start sassing her? Her shock at Jaune's impudence was interrupted by Ruby pulling away from her, smiling like Zwei had just fetched her a plate of cookies. She could save chewing Jaune out for later, she supposed.

"Weiss, what are you even doing here?" Ruby asked, slightly breathless.

Ruby's question reminded her of where they were. "I should ask you the same thing," she shot back. "You don't have an airship like I do."

"Oh, uh, y'know… it's a long story..." Ruby stammered.

"Ruby," Weiss threatened.

"We… might have walked here?"

"Walked here?! Ruby!" Weiss scolded, pulling on her cheeks. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? You could have died! You're our leader! You should be less reckless!"

"But I didn't die!" Ruby pointed out, pulling Weiss's hands away. "And I met you here, so I'd say my recklessness has worked out for us yet again!"

"Yet again," Weiss teased. "And when exactly has it ever worked out for us before?"

"Uh, like a billion times, probably," Ruby responded. "But that reminds me we have a thing we're doing right now. You should come with us!"

"Uh, that might not be the best idea," a voice spoke up. Weiss turned to see Ruby's uncle standing slightly aside from JNR. Oh, joy. He was here.

"What, why not?"

"Sorry, kiddo, but we're trying to keep this thing on the down-low. Less people in on this meeting, the better."

"Uncle Qrow, I can't not tell Weiss what was going on! We promised, no secrets in Team RWBY! If I can't trust Weiss with this than I can't trust anyone."

Weiss felt she deserved some sort of medal for keeping her cool. After all this time, Ruby still fought for her, still believed in her. No matter how rough life was, how few allies she had, Ruby Rose would always have her back. She silently vowed that she would always have Ruby's as well. Not just as a teammate, but as a friend and person.

Qrow stared at them silently. Weiss wasn't quite sure why, but she got the distinct feeling that he was seeing something other than them. "No secrets, huh? Well, I'm not heartless enough to go around making you break promises. Tell her everything you want. Not here though. Later."

Ruby pumped her fist. "Woo! Brace yourselves Weiss, because Team Besties is going to talk the night away!"

Weiss frowned in confusion. "Team Besties? Wasn't it Team BFFs?" It was only after she saw the smile on Ruby's face did she realize her mistake.

"No, that wasn't-"

"Weiss admitted it! I have witnesses!" Ruby declared, pointing at everyone gathered there. "All of you are witnesses!"

"Obviously I wasn't-"

"Nope, too late! No takebacks!" Ruby cheered.

"You are incorrigible," Weiss grumbled. Honestly, she could be so much trouble.

"Umm, no, I do own a Corgi, Weiss. You haven't forgotten Zwei, have you?"

"Of course not!" Weiss snapped. "But that's aside the point. 'Incorrigible' doesn't even sound like-"

"Yeah as much as I hate to break up the comedy stylings of Pipsqueak and Squeaker," Qrow interrupted. "We are starting to get a lot of looks. Let's keep moving people."

"Right, right!" Ruby agreed, bounding along.

Weiss walked alongside her, trying to ignore all the stares. Really, so embarrassing.

"So what are you doing here, Weiss? Some fancy family vacation or something?" Ruby asked as they walked along.

"Ah no," Weiss admitted. She didn't want to answer this in front of Qrow and JNR. They didn't need to be privy to her personal life. "There were some complications at home."

Ruby's eyes widened and she nodded slightly. She had recognized Weiss' particular wording and decided to be subtle. Weiss felt another surge of relief and gratitude to her partner. "So now, I am attempting to get in touch with Winter to stay with her, but she's currently on a secure line, one that I cannot reach."

"So Ice Queen's here, huh?" Qrow spoke up, puling out his Scroll. "Let's see, if she's here for what I think she's here for, I'm pretty sure I've got the number you need."

Weiss stared at him in disbelief. "How would you know a secure number for an Atlas military operative?"

"Oh, Qrow knows lots of things we don't know," Jaune remarked.

Qrow shot him a look as he tapped in numbers. Weiss stared between them in surprise. Seriously, what was going on?

Ruby nudged her and mouthed, _Tell you later_. Weiss nodded, smiling. Ruby wouldn't keep her in the dark on anything. She was a motormouth once she was comfortable with a person. Weiss was particularly proud of the fact Ruby was comfortable around her, despite it being occasionally annoying.

Weiss' attention snapped back to Qrow as the Scroll started ringing. He was holding it against his ear, and she waited with bated breath. Would this really work?

The Scroll clicked. "Hey, Ice Queen? I was just wondering, with all this nature around have you noticed how everything just seems to die in your presence?"

There was a pause as he listened to the response.

"Just figured you'd want to hear my dulcet tones after so long. Oh, also, your kid sister is here in Mistral. Puttin' her on."

He tossed Weiss the Scroll. As he did, Weiss could hear a "What? What are you talking about?! Qrow!"

She hurriedly brought it up to her ear. "Winter?" she breathed.

There was a pause on the other side. "Weiss?" the voice spoke, undeniably Winter.

"Winter, thank goodness! It has been so difficult to get in contact with you!"

"Of course it has, Atlas takes its security very- No enough about that, what on Remnant are you doing here? How and why is Qrow with you?"

"It is a really long story," Weiss responded. She glanced at Ruby. "Possibly two really long stories."

Ruby nodded to confirm that her story was, in fact, rather long. "What does that mean?" Winter asked. "Weiss, why are you in Mistral?"

"Erm, well, Mother tends to stay in the garden more and more, so I was getting a little lonely, I suppose."

"I see," Winter muttered darkly. "Are you alright? He's done nothing awful has he?"

Weiss froze. The press conference officially announcing her resignation as heir hadn't happened yet. Winter still didn't know. "Well, some things, but we can talk about that later."

"We certainly will do no such thing! We are going to talk now, young lady. Where are you? I understand that you don't want to say anything in front of Qrow, so I'll come pick you up."

"No, no, I'm… we're kind of busy."

"We've got a really important mission to go on!" Ruby spoke up, the only one close enough to hear the full conversation. "Sorry, Winter! Oh, also, greetings, many uh, blessings upon you!"

"Is that Ruby?" Winter asked. "What- how- what is going on, Weiss?"

"I'm honestly not quite sure myself. But if you could meet us at-" She turned to Ruby. "Where are we going?"

"Haven Academy."

"Haven Academy," Weiss continued. "We could probably find out together."

There was a very long pause, followed by a sigh. "Alright then, I'll be there in 20 minutes. Weiss, hand the Scroll back to Qrow please."

She handed the Scroll back to him. He took it back and put it to his ear. "Yo."

"Look. I only ran into her like, five seconds ago. I've had nothing to do with- I dunno she looks fine to me, why don't you ask- Yeah, relax, she's not going to die from a stroll to- Okay, that is insanely illegal. Like, you should see someone because threats that graphic are not necessary. She's fine, alright? Yeesh, see you in a few."

He tapped the screen to end the call and returned it to his pocket. "Well, two things: one, your sister is insane, and two, we now have to get there within 20 minutes or I will have to get hospitalized twice in a week. Not too keen on that, so we're all going for a quick run."

19 minutes later, the gang hit Haven in a variety of conditions. Qrow and Ruby were only a little out of breath, Jaune, Ren, and herself were a fair bit worse off, and Nora was, somehow, completely fine.

"Hmph. Just on time. Congratulations, Qrow, you've saved yourself from becoming a kebab."

They looked to see Winter Schnee across from them. "Winter!" Weiss cried, running over to hug her.

Winter stiffened as Weiss wrapped her arms around her. After a moment, she relaxed and did the same. "It is good to see that you're alright, Weiss," she said softly.

"Aw look, Ice Queen does have feelings," Qrow remarked. "Who could've imagined?"

Winter glared at him from over Weiss' head. "And what exactly are you doing here. Qrow?"

"We," Qrow emphasized, gesturing to everyone there. "Are here to talk with Leo. We've got some intel for him. We met mini-you on our way here."

"Intel? What kind that the General wasn't already privy to it?"

Qrow placed his hand Ruby's shoulder. "Well, Ruby figured out who the saboteurs at Beacon were, and has seen and talked with all of them, so we're making sure we've got all our bases covered."

"She's seen the saboteurs?" Winter asked, surprised. "Well, I see then, you all can go up and do that. My sister and I have some catching up to do." She pulled out of the hug to look directly at Weiss. "And we are going to have a very long talk."

"Ah, umm, can we wait for them to finish their meeting?" Weiss asked.

"What? What for?"

Weiss realized that the only reason she had- wanting to talk with Ruby more- was extremely embarrassing to say out loud. But Winter did not look like she was in the mood for another "Exlpain later". Weiss opened her mouth to respond, but, as she did, there was deafening explosion from the campus.

A Pladin barrelled towards them, white steel glinting in the sunlight. "No," Ren lamented. "We're too late!"

"No we aren't," Jaune argued. "This is only one Paladin, not armies."

"Someone just isn't very happy to see us here," Qrow finished. "Which means we aren't late, we're just not here first."

"So Cinder and all of them might be here already!" Ruby said. "We have to-"

She was interrupted as the Paladin launched a volley of missiles at them. Winter brandished her sword, summoning a dozen of birds, all of which charged into one of the missiles, blowing them up before anyone was hit.

"Speed is of the essence then," she intoned. "This Paladin attack was too sudden. Whoever doesn't want us here can see us from their vantage point."

"Alrighty then! We've got a plan!" Ruby stated. "Jaune, Ren, Nora! Go to the Headmaster's, explain what's going on, make sure he's safe! Uncle Qrow, use your bird powers to find Salem's crony! Weiss, Winter, you two are going to help me take down this thing!"

"What? Ruby, that's-"

The Paladin brought its fist down on them. They all dodged just as it smashed the ground. "No time to argue!" Ruby shouted. "Everyone, go now!"

Qrow wordlessly transformed into a crow and flew off. Jaune, Ren, and Nora started to make a break for it, but the Paladin turned to them next. "Weiss!" Ruby called. "Ice flower!"

Weiss nodded, and launched herself backwards to sniping distance. Ruby boosted over as she prepped her glyphs. Ruby, in one smooth motion, stopped herself and prepped her sniper. She took aim and fired five shots. One for each leg, shoulder, and the head. She knew it wouldn't hold, but…

In the second it took for the Paladin to break free of the ice, Nora had pulled out her grenade launcher. "One-way train to Alive-ville, coming up!" She rocketed herself forward, scooping Ren and Jaune up to get them out of range of the Paladin's fist just as it came down. She gave Ruby a thumps-up as they returned to running to the main buliding, now a safe distance away.

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as the Paladin turned to them. Everyone was fine, and on teir way to completing their jobs, all that was left was her. "Winter, you're in the military right? Do these things have any, like, weak spots or something?"

"This isn't a video game, Ruby," Weiss scolded. "It's not like there's some glowing self-destruct switch on the thing's back."

"Weiss is right," Winter agreed. "But, while it isn't so much a weakness, structurally, its armor plating cannot cover the back of its knees. If we could slash the circuits inside, we could stop its legs, making it half-useless."

"Sounds good!" Ruby said. "How do we do that?"

"I create a distraction, and while its sensors are focused on me, you two speed in for the kill."

Ruby nodded. "I got the left."

Ruby and Weiss readied themselves. Winter prepared another summon, looking at the enemy before her. Something wasn't quite right. The Paladin hadn't attacked for a while. She shook it off. Perhaps this was an older model or something. She created a large Summoning Glyph, and through it, summoned a massive King Taijitu.

"Holy cow, what is _that?_ " Ruby squealed in excitement. "That is so cool!"

"Less gawking, more focusing," Weiss snapped. Ruby didn't need to be _that_ excited. She could do it too.

They moved in sync with the glowing King Taijitu as it charged forward. The King Taijitu slammed into the Paladin, entangling its arms in a struggle for supremacy. Ruby and Weiss boosted themselves behind it, preparing to slash at the knees. As they swung their weapons, however, something unexpected happened. The Paladin jumped. It lifted itself clear out of range, simultaneously ripping the King Taijitu apart with its arms as it did so. As the snakes dissipated, the Paladin pointed ts guns down at the two girls beneath it.

Ruby and Weiss shared a look, and immediately bolted back to Winter, as a shower of bullets rained down behind them.

Winter cursed as she launched herself forward. That Paladin's methods, waiting so that it could dodge and counterattack, went fat beyond anything they had been initially programmed to do. This was probably the work of the one who had hacked into Beacon's network. Now her sister was having to dodge machine gunfire because she hadn't realized it fast enough. She reached their position, preparing her sword. "Behind me now!" she ordered.

Weiss and Ruby immediately leapt behind her, as she summoned a shield of Aura. All the guns pointed at her and continued firing.

"The ones at Beacon never dodged!" Weiss said.

"There is a computer genius on the enemies' side," Winter explained. "He's updated this Paladin's AI. This one won't be hit that easily."

"Well, we're just going to have to hit even faster then," Ruby reasoned.

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Weiss asked.

Ruby looked at her and grinned. "The White Rose."

Weiss looked at her in shock. "What are you talking about? We've never gotten the White Rose to work!"

"We didn't at Beacon, but we've both gotten stronger, right? I _know_ you didn't just spend these few months not working your butt off."

"Well, of course I trained, but still-"

"Then we've got this," Ruby cut her off.

"We do not 'got this'!" Weiss snapped. "Ruby, even your recklessness has limits!"

"I'm not being reckless," Ruby said. "Weiss, you're my best friend, my best teammate. Despite all the crazy stuff going on, we're both here, fighting to make our lives better. I know you. You're not going to let me down."

Weiss's voice caught in her throat. She stared into Ruby's unwavering eyes. She really believed Weiss could do this. They hadn't seen each other in months, everyone around them had changed or abandoned them, but Ruby still trusted her with her life. She knew that she had no choice. No matter what, no matter how impossible it was, she had to make sure that the White Rose worked out.

"As you command, leader," she responded.

"Do it fast please!" Winter said. "Can't hold much longer!"

Ruby shot backwards to give herself space for a running start. Weiss prepared the stem of the White Rose, a long row of Boost Glyphs, hanging in the air next to Winter and pointed directly at the Paladin. "Ready!" she called out.

Ruby launched forward, spinning herself into a whirlwind of petals. The whirlwind barreled straight into the stem, hurtling through the glyphs at a rapidly increasing speed. The Paladin stopped firing at them in order to dodge the oncoming missile. Ruby soared straight past it. Now it was time for the petals. Weiss summoned a Boost Glyph behind the Paladin, one that redirected Ruby from going straight past the Paladin to going behind its back. She threw up another glyph, on the left side of the Paladin's back that sent Ruby straight at its arm. Again, the Paladin dodged. But with each consecutive glyph, Ruby moved a little faster. Weiss continued making them, one to keep Ruby from flying away, and one to aim her directly at the Paladin.

To summon glyphs at the precise angles needed, especially at the speeds Ruby was going, was insanely difficult. If Weiss dropped focus for even a moment, Ruby could very well die. That's why she didn't. She, now more than ever, would not fail. She continued to focus, she could feel it, the path that was being created. She could see that the Paladin was only barely dodging at these speeds. It was almost ready, but she knew Ruby had more to show, something that she had always tried, but could never quite get down. She could feel it was coming. So, when Ruby hit her next glyph, and two whirlwinds split off in opposite directions, Weiss wasn't the least bit surprised. She summoned two glyphs at once to keep both the fake and Ruby going. The Paladin was now thoroughly confused, twitching as two enemies appeared. Time to end it. She summoned glyphs for the real Ruby that brought her down to knee level, and she sent her directly across the Paladin;s width. Ruby, in one fell swoop, slashed through both the Paladin's knees before it even had time to react.

The Paladin crumpled to the ground, facing skyward. Weiss flicked her had, summoning three more Glyphs. Ruby bounced between, slicing the robot at its shoulders, slicing its arms off completely. It was defenseless. Now, for the finish. Weiss shifted the existing glyphs so that they ran a smooth circle around the Paladin. Ruby began to ran laps around the thing, garnering even more speed, so that it eventually formed a tornado, lifting the Paladin slowly into the air. This was it.

She slammed Myrtemaster to the ground, putting everything she had, all of her determination, her faith, her happiness, her will, into one final Glyph, a Summon. A massive white knight exploded out of the glyph. It nodded at her, picked up its sword, and in one massive swing, cleaved the Paladin in half. The force of the blow scattered all of the rose petals Ruby's tornado had generated. The White Rose had blossomed.

Weiss looked at the scene. Her glowing knight surround by a rain of rose petals. She burned it into her memory as her knees buckled. She had been pushing her limits even before making the summon, and her body was now adamant she make up for it. Before she hit the ground, however, a pair of arms grabbed her.

She felt herself be picked up by none other than Ruby Rose.

"See? Told you could do it," Ruby said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Shut up," Weiss mumbled. "Obviously I could do it. I was just worried about you, Ms. Slacker."

"We just nailed a technique that has been months of work and you're making fun of me. Is it sad that you're still the best friend I've ever had?"

"If it's any consolation," Weiss muttered, beginning to lose consciousness. "You're the best friend I've ever had too."

Ruby stared at Winter as Weiss fell asleep. "I didn't imagine that. She said that right?"

"She certainly did," Winter said, getting up. "I can take her for now, Ruby. You're probably just as tired."

"You sure?"

"Of course," Winter replied, sliding her arms under Weiss. "It's the least I can do."

"Oh, thank goodness," Ruby said. Immediately, she released her hold on Weiss and fell backwards, eyes closed before she even hit the ground. Winter stared between the two of them. Despite the fact that both of them were passed out, both were smiling from ear to ear.

"Really," she muttered. "Thank you, Ruby Rose."

* * *

 **Epilogue**

Dr. Watts stared at the scene from a roof across the courtyard. That was unfortunate. To think that the advanced AI he had constructed for the Paladins could be so easily bested by two teenaged girls. Granted, one of them was the silver-eyed warrior, but still, how irritating. His thoughts diverted, however, as the blade of a sword pressed against his neck.

"Here's some friendly advice for ya, Mr. Saboteur. One infiltrator to the other," Qrow said. "Looking on from a rooftop as a bunch of kids fight a giant robot literally screams 'I'm a bad guy, come get me'."

"Duly noted," Watts remarked. "Qrow Branwen, I assume? You'll have to forgive me, but I was under the impression that you were currently poisoned."

"Rule #1 about me. Never underestimate my body's capacity to deal with toxins," Qrow responded, taking a long swig from his flask.

"Hmmm, clearly," Watts responded. "Well, my congratulations for surviving, however, I think you've underestimated me as well."

He removed a small cartridge from his jacket and pressed a button. It began to beep. "It doesn't seem like anyone down there is capable of dodging much right now, eh? But who knows, they might surprise me again."

Watts hurled the device into the air. As predicted, Qrow immediately jumped after it, completely leaving him unguarded. Salem was right, for every strength their kindness and devotion presented, it also had a glaring weakness as well. As soon as Qrow grabbed the device, the cartridge sent an electric shock through him. He fell to the ground, barely landing on his feet. Watts looked down at the barely conscious man. "Hmm, seems your body stands up well to toxins and electricity, Mr. Branwen. Well, I'm afraid I don't have time to find out what else it can resist, so for now, I bid you adieu."

Qrow watched as he disappeared from the edge of the roof. "Seriously," he muttered. "Straight out of a fuckin' Saturday morning cartoon."


End file.
